Glamour labels Lena Dunham, who appears on camera in the infamous video with sexual overtones, the Voice of a Generation.

Lena Dunham is a Woman of the Year because…“She’s incredibly brave, curious, and engaged…and she happened to hit on something universal. I will be tuning in forevermore,” says actress and friend Claire Danes.

Lena Dunham, the immensely likable 26-year-old force behind the year’s most-talked-about television debut, HBO’s Girls, just wants to double-check that she is, in fact, a Glamour Woman of the Year. “I was in People’s ‘Most Beautiful of the Year’ issue,” she says, laughing, “but there was just an interview with me on another page—I was not a ‘Most Beautiful Person.’ They duped me!” But there’s no duping here: Dunham, who came to the entertainment world’s attention with her 2010 indie film Tiny Furniture (made at age 23!), has become one of the most powerful women in Hollywood since the April premiere of her show, which she—deep breath—created, stars in, and also directs.

Yeah, we heard, Lena: You “did it” for the first time with Barack Obama, who made you feel like a woman.

I’m not surprised many 20-somethings think this campaign Web ad is cool and funny; young people tend to lack wisdom. But the president of the United States, who is also the father of two young daughters? If Barack Obama really does think his ad’s messages are cool, he’s revealing more about the way he thinks of women than he may realize.

First, it appears that if you say women voters to Obama, the first thing he thinks of is, not workers, students, parents, or people who worry about illegal immigration and high gas prices, but sex. You’ve probably met men like this—men who, when you discuss the economy, or terrorism, stare at your breasts instead of your face. I mean, we’re worried about losing our jobs and borrowing money from China, and Obama responds with a sexually oriented ad, aimed at women, joking about how “doing it” with him is “amazing.”

This attitude goes beyond the Lena Dunham ad. Take a gander at the Obama campaign’s “women’s issues” page; it’s almost entirely about birth control and abortion. Honestly, when a candidate treats me as little more than a collection of reproductive organs, I feel as though he’s mentally stuffing me into a bustier, black net stockings, and six-inch Jimmy Choos.

Second, by approving this ad’s message, Obama is also approving a dangerous subtext directed at America’s daughters: that cool people treat sex as mere recreation, something to engage in without commitment when you’re “ready,” whatever that means. You don’t need a husband; you just need “a great guy” who “understands women.” Being a virgin is something to be ashamed of because it’s “super-uncool.”

This worldview has led to one in four American teenage girls acquiring a sexually transmitted disease (which can lead to cancer and infertility) and 53 percent of all American children being born out of wedlock—kids who are much more likely to live in poverty, commit crimes, do poorly in school, and suffer emotional problems.